Coin-controlled strength-testing machine.



Patented Feb'. H,- l902.

A. WILSON. CUlN-CUNTRULLED STRENGTH TESTING MACHINEQ (Application filedAug. 16; 1901.

-No Modem Mums Pmns ca. Pnovoumu. WASH UNITED STATES PATE T @rrrcn.

ADDISON WILSON, OF LOVELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

COIN-CONTROLLED STRENGTH-=TESTING MACHINE.

sPEcIFIcA'rIoN forming part of Letters Patent No. 692,958, dated Febrary 11, 1902.

Application filed August 16, 1901. Serial No. 72,229. (No model.)

To all 1071/0721, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADDISON lVILsON,a citi-' zen of the United States,residing in Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inCoin Controlled Strength -Testing Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to coin-controlled strength-testing machines; andit consists in the devices and combinations hereinafter described andclaimed.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved means fordeveloping the strength of the muscles of the hand, wrist, and forearmby turning a shaft or spindle against the resistance of springs, toprovide means for normally locking said shaft from turning, and

of unlocking said shaft by a coin dropped in a slot in the machine.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machineprovided with my improvement, the doors being open to show theconstruction and the right-hand half of the dial being removed to showthe construction of the indicator; Fig. 2, a vertical central sectionfrom front to back of the machine.

The case A may be secured to a vertical supporting-surface, as a wall orpost, in any convenient manner-for instance, by screws B, passingthrough the back a of the case into said surface. The top a and floor orbottom a are rigidly secured to the back aand sides CL3L4 of the case.The front of the case is provided with a door a hinged to one side ofthe case and when closed fastened by a lock 0 in an obvious manner, thekey of said lock being carried by the proprietor. Below the door a is aremovable door a the lower end of which rests on the floor a or of thecase and the upper end of which is held in by the door a when the latteris closed. The doors are prevented from being crowded too far into thecase by ledges a. of, secured on the inner faces of the sides a a theledges also preventing the machine from being tampered with by thininstruments introduced at the sides of the doors. The lower door a isinclined backward from the top, as shown in Fig. 2, to retain the lowerend of the door in place and partly to improve the appearance of thecase, the sides and bottom of which are made in front flush with saidlower door.

A horizontal shelf a is secured to the sides a a of the case in anyconvenient manner, as by letting its ends into mortises a a in saidsides, the front edge of said shelf also assisting to support the lowerdoor.

Guide-rods O O are secured vertically in the top a and shelf a of thecase, said rods being represented as bolts retained in place by nuts 0c, which turn on the ends of said bolts above said top and below saidshelf, respectively.

The case and shelf are preferably made of wood and the shelf isstifiened by a bar D, arranged below the shelf, through which bar thelower ends of the bolts pass down into the lower nuts, this constructionpreventing the bolts working loose in the shelf. In a similar manner thetop is stiffened and the upper ends of the bolts prevented from workingloose by passing through the base 6 of the indicator-stand e,arrangedbetween said top and the upper nuts.

A follower F, through which the guide-rods O 0 pass, may be raisedvertically against the resistance of springs G G, represented as helicalsprings,surrounding said guide-rods and compressed between said followerand tension-n uts g g, which turn on said bolts above said springs.These nuts may be adjusted by turning on said guide-rods to vary thecompression of the springs and are prevented from accidental turning bycheck-nuts g g or other well-known meansin an obvious manner. Thefollower is normally prevented from rising by a lock, represented as abent lever H, supported on a suitable stand h and pivoted at the upperend h in such a manner that the weight of the nearly-horizontal lowerpart 712 of the lever will cause said lever to swing forward over a partf of said follower. The lower part 2' of a coin-chute I is carried onsaid follower and is arranged to discharge a coin placed therein againstsaid lever H and to swing the same out of the path of said follower, sothat the latter may be raised. The vertical slit h ,in which the lever His pivoted, is too narrow to allow the coin to pass through, and thecoin is raised by the rising of the follower above the top of the standhand slides over the incline 71 and falls through a slit or space 64between the shelf a and the back a, into the cash-receptacle e orcompartment below said shelf. The upper end of the upper section 2" ofthe coin-chute is supported in the top a of the case, and thechute-sections 11 t" are telescoped togetherias the lower section israised, the lower end of the upper section preferably entering the upperend of the lower section, so that the coin does not strike an end'of thesection. The upper end of the upper chute-section "i is flared out at iand rests loosely in a depression a to allow a slight swing of the uppersection as the lower section rises. The depression a is covered by aplate J, having a coin-slotj immediately over the top of the upper endof the chute.

The follower might be raised by a direct lift; but I have shown a meansof raising the follower which depends on the strength of the hand,wrist, and forearm.

K is a horizontal shaft or spindle journaled in the sides of the caseand having suitable handles 70 outside of the case, which handles may begrasped by the hands. The barrel K of the spindle is connected byflexible inelastic means, as chains LL, to the follower, so that turningthe spindle raises said follower, the springs G G subsequently restoringsaid follower to normal position, the follower striking and swingingbackward and passing the lever I-I,which immediately swings forward overthe projectionfof said follower. A suitable stop, represented as a chainL secured to the barrel of the spindle and to the case, prevents thespindle from being turned backward from the starting-point. A cord Mconnects the barrel K with the larger pulley n of a compound pulley, andanother cord M connects the smaller member 02' to the arbor e of theindicator E, so that turning the spindle unwinds the cord M from saidarbor and rotates said arbor against the resistance of a spiral spring 8which subsequently winds up the cord M when the spindle is let go. Anindex-linger e is secured to the arbor e and is carried by said arborover a figured dial 6 to indicate the comparative amount of strengthrequired to turn the spindle K, and the scale and figures on said dialmay indicate pounds or other denominations of weight. The index-finger eis prevented from passing the zero point when moved back by the spring aby a projection e on tlie arbor striking a stationary stop-pin e in theindicator-case. The part of the arbor e on which the cord 17?. winds islarger than the pulley 77,.

To lessen the shock of the follower striking the stand h, I arrange abuffer P under said stand, the same consisting of a cushion of rubber orother suitable material, said stand being retained on said buffer by abolt 0, which passes down through the bottom of said stand and throughthe shelf a and bar D and is held by anut 0, turning on said bolt 0, upagainst said bar.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of a suitable case providedwith a coin-slot, a follower, means of raising said follower, springs toresist the raising of said follower and to restore said follower, whenraised and let go, to normal position, a coin-chute, formed in twotelescoping sections, one attached to said case, and the other to saidfollower, and a lock, normally engaging said follower and preventing theraising thereof and adapted to be struck by a coin from said chute anddisengaged from said follower. I

2. The combination of a suitable case, provided with a coin-slot, afollower, guides to direct said follower,springs, surrounding saidguides,to resist the movement of said follower and to restore the sameto normal position, a

coin-chute, a lock, normally preventing the movement of said follower,and adapted to be unlocked by being struck by a coin from said chute, aspindle, journaled in said case and having handles which project fromsaid case, flexible connections between said follower and spindle,adapted to be wound on said spindle, and an indicator to show themovement of said spindle.

3. The combination of a suitable case, provided with a coin-slot, afollower, guides to direct said follower, springs surrounding saidguides to resist the movement of saidfollower, and to restore the sameto normal position, a coin-chute, a lock, normally preventing themovement of said follower, and adapted to be unlocked by being struck bya coin from said chute, a spindle, journaled in said case, and havinghandles which project from said case, flexible connections between saidfollower and spindle, adapted to be Wound on said spindle, an arbor, aflexible connection between said spindle and said arbor, a figured dialand a pointer, carried by said arbor over said dial.

4. The combination of a suitable case, provided with a coin-chute, afollower, guides to direct said follower, springs surrounding saidguides to resist the movement ofsaid follower, and to restore the sameto normal position, a lock, normally preventing the movement of saidfollower, and adapted to be unlocked by being struck by a coin from saidchute, a spin dle, journaled in said case and having handles whichproject from said case, flexible connections between said follower andspindle, to be wound on said spindle, an arbor, a flexible connectionbetween said spindle and said arbor, a figured dial, a pointer securedto said arbor, a spring to restore said arbor to normal position, and astop arranged in the path of a projection, with which said arbor isprovided, to prevent said pointer from passing the zero-point in itsreturn movement.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

ADDISON WILSON.

W'itnesses:

' ALBERT M. MOORE,

KENNETH J. F. McK1TrnIcK,

IIO

